Russian proposal: Paid leave for menstruating

Yes, this is the artsiest depiction of a woman’s period we could find. (Photo credit: 欠我兩千塊 / Flickr)

A Russian politico concerned with the well-being of the fairer sex proposed a law that would let women take two paid days off to suffer the agony of menstruation at home. Isn’t that sweet?

Nationalist lawmaker and Moscow mayoral candidate Mikhail Degtyaryov – a 32-year-old with two sons – wrote on his website of his plan to ease the pain of the period-afflicted working woman by letting her sit it out at home, no doubt to have a good weep-fest and chocolate binge in the comfort of domestic privacy. (But also to give men a little peace and quiet in the workplace – right, guys?)

“During that period (of menstruation), most women experience psychological and physiological discomfort,” he wrote online. “The pain for the fair sex is often so intense that it is necessary to call an ambulance.”

Poor delicate things.

For some reason, human rights groups have dismissed the draft legislation as sexist.

“If we are seriously debating women’s efficiency at work during menstruation, we should also consider how fit for work men are after a drinking bout,” Marina Pisklakova-Parker, head of women’s group Anna Center, tells Reuters.